The show, which was named best comedy series at September's Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony, was nominated in six Critics' Choice categories, including best comedy series.

It also earned nominations from the Broadcast Television Journalists Assn. for cast members Ty Burrell, Ed O'Neill (who was snubbed by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences) and Eric Stonestreet for best supporting actor in a comedy and Julie Bowen and Sofia Vergara for best supporting actress in a comedy. (Emmy-nominated Jesse Tyler Ferguson was the only major cast member not nominated; their being nominated in the supporting categories falls in line with their submissions for for the Emmys last year, too.)

Vying for best comedy honors with Modern Family will be another ABC series, The Middle, along with CBS' The Big Bang Theory, Fox's Glee, FX's Louie and animated Archer and four NBC shows: Community, Parks and Recreation, The Office and 30 Rock.

On the drama side, cable shows dominated the field. AMC has three series in contention: rookies The Killing (still airing its first season) and The Walking Dead along with veteran Mad Men, a three-time best drama Emmy winner. They will compete with HBO's Boardwalk Empire and Game of Thrones, Showtime's Dexter, FX's Justified, DirecTV's Friday Night Lights and two broadcast nominees: Fox's Fringe and CBS' The Good Wife.

Reality shows are split into two categories: competition vs. non-competition. The latter features an eclectic group of nominees: ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, A&E's Hoarders, Bravo's The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, TLC's Sister Wives and CBS' Undercover Boss.

The competition category includes CBS' The Amazing Race, which has won eight Emmys in the same category; Fox's American Idol; ABC's Dancing With the Stars; Lifetime's Project Runway; Logo's RuPaul's Drag Race; and Bravo's Top Chef, which broke Race's Emmy streak last year.

Meanwhile, Oprah Winfrey's syndicated show, which aired its finale last month, will vie for best talk show honors with E's Chelsea Lately, Comedy Central's The Daily Show, syndicated The Ellen DeGeneres Show and ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Overall, ABC earned the most nominations of any network, with a total of 16, followed by NBC with 12. AMC and FX led the cable networks, with nine noms apiece.

Meanwhile, submissions are still being accepted for the most exciting new series category.

The ceremony will take place June 20 at the Beverly Hills Hotel, with Cat Deeley hosting, and will air on ReelzChannel at 8 p.m. ET June 22. VH1.com also will live stream the show June 20. Bob Bain is executive producing.